"Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself."- John Dewey.
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Thursday, December 09, 2010

Otak Otak: placing students in high-quality internships

I can tell you from personal experience that getting a good internship in Malaysia is hard. There is no easy way to discern the good from the bad, and very few companies even have actual internship programmes. Those few that do tend to offer mixed results, with interns often feeling they are an afterthought and an adjunct to the organisation's work. (When I talk with friends who intern at local banks, they often have more stories to tell about running the photocopiers and buying kuih than they do about actual finance-related work.)

Of course, where there's a problem, there's an opportunity. Some friends have set up Otak Otak, a project to match qualified interns with good companies, and provide structure to the internship programmes. They are currently looking for companies interested in hiring competent interns for a month or two, as well as interested students looking for internship opportunities in Malaysia. The website is otak2.com; more details after the jump.

Otak-Otak : An Elite Internship Program for Future Malaysian Leaders

What is it : Otak-Otak is a highly selective leadership program for interns to be held during the June - July 2011 period. We are looking to accept 50 top students and place them in leading organisations across 4 sectors in Malaysia - the corporate sector, small businesses, goverment, and the non profit realm. All interns will have access to events most evenings after work (networking, site visits, training from corporates), and also share common accomodation - with regular sharing and development sessions planned.

Why it's important : This is a unique oppurtunity for students to participate in a highly selective program of its kind and share experiences with other students who are going through the same program. It will be the first year (of many to come) for a very innovative program that will allow young Malaysians to work at top companies across KL and at the same time be part of a larger group.

How to Apply : Application details and more program information can be found at www.otak2.com

Congrats for having this superb idea to help those graduating...Me myself experienced a very weak internship program from a very well known organization..It was totally unexpected to experience such from that organization. Basically what should I do was to help the clerk preparing the room for any training program such as organizing chairs,tables,papers,pens,u name it.. None of it relates to what I learn back in my Uni.. I learnt nothing from my internship...sigh...

What moot says is kinda right. Its up to intern's effort and willingness to learn. ask more questions and tell your expectation to the host company as they might not know what are you looking for. those who put you there are pple from HR. not from the departments. Btw admin, i dont think such a quality internships could be acheived in 2 months time like otak2 promoting.maybe more than that?

Indians like dogs as a pet. Chinese like dogs as a pet. When you blend these two funny culture in-differences you later get austro-mao and dayie like cat as a pet. So what is right and what is wrong nobody knows. Regards, Asylum Seeker True enough.

Its really a great job and appreciate you a lot. As it is very difficult to get a job nowadays for any student. Placing a candidate as an internship is much difficult, you are doing a really good job. Keep it up.

Thanks for giving information about related "Otak Otak: placing students in high-quality internships". We will discover education in the whole world..INSHALLAH....... Thanks to you . Have a nice day.regards, saad from

this is one of the most incredible blogs Ive read in a very long time. The amount of information in here is stunning, like you practically wrote the book on the subject. Your blog is great for anyone who wants to understand this subject more. Great stuff; please keep it up!AkhileshStudy in Canada

I have went through lots os interview with fresh graduate and I feel that they all does not go through a good internship.

Therefore, we have some internship position as "Sales and Marketing Trainee" @ http://exabytes.com.my/about/careers.php

No Doubt, we will have the trainee to perform some simple job at the beginning and we slowly train them to be creative and find ways to automate their daily job find ways to simply their daily jobs which we think is very useful for trainee and good for their future.